How To Get More Clicks On Your Blog Or Hub Web Ads

Clicks and internet ads go together like peanut butter and chocolate

Follow the money. It's a phrase used to denote the path of motivation for lots of endeavors these days. But you say, "Ben, I don't want to follow the money. I would rather have the money follow me."

Indeed.

Indeed my friend we all would love to have money follow us. But in fact, as anyone who has plunked down their twenty dollars for a Google Money Tree package will tell you, money will not follow you. Not without a lot of hard work and cajoling.

You have to think of things from the advertisers' point of view. They too are trying to make money. This is why they spend money on: online ads, text ads, local advertising, display ads, online classified ads and just about any other internet aka web ad you can dream up. Why do advertisers give a rat's rump about bloggers and hubbers such as you and I? Because we're in it, knee deep! That is, we're living life. From an advertisers point of view, we are living, breathing research robots. We bumble around to and fro, gathering bits and pieces of data like a mammalian iRobot Roomba gathers dander that has collected near your sofa. Then, at least for those of us who write, you proceed to share the details of our recent research trip i.e. trip to the mall where you saw bottles of Chanel Sublimage regenerating fluid for your wife, a Perry Ellis suit for your self and an Oilily sweater for your daughter. Well, not all of us can buy those things at the mall, but we can mayby buy them for a better price online, or through eBay or by clicking on some other marketing ad online.

The trick to getting more clicks on your blog or hub web ads, is unfortunately for some people, a tough pill to swallow, because it requires hard work. But you say, "Aw Ben, life is hard, I don't wanna work, give me a cookie dammit." Well fine, here's your dang cookie. Write about what you love, what you hate, what you bought and what you almost bought. When you are putting your article together, don't be shy about researching on Google Adwords Keyword Tool. There you can enter whatever item you wrote about, and see quickly who is clicking on what. Furthermore, you can change the "Choose columns to display" area to "show estimated average CPC" and you will see what the average price of an ad costs for an advertiser. This is pretty relevant information when you consider that you get a percentage of that CPC, or cost per click. Again, it's only an average, a guestimation by the Grand Master Wizard aka Google.Com that determines such things. Of course, choosing expensive subjects isn't the same as getting someone to click on your ads now is it?

Another way to get people to click on your ads is to not always put a photo at the top of your article. Now me, I dig images. I am a damn image junky, being an artist and all. But alas, sometimes you have to put the pretty pictures away, or at least smaller and down the page a bit. You have to imagine that your reader also known as, your potential buyer, aims his or her eyeballs at your article like a whirling dervish dancing to and fro. I don't know about you, but mostly, when I read an article, I start at the top. If I am reading I tend to glance ever so quickly and slightly at the ads at the top of the page, then as I'm reading I tend to read a few off to the sides. Also, another strategy to get more clicks on your blog or hub is to cut your text in half! That's right you heard me, cut it in half. Print it out, get a sharp knife, and cut the page in half. Na, just kidding, not literally. Well, sort of literally, half literally. Just write your article as usual, then cut half of the article onto your computers clipboard. Then open a new capsule of text and place the rest of the text in that new capsule. This gives Google an opportunity to place some text ads in between your text. Get it? Nice huh? See, commercials don't want to hurt you, they just want to have fun.

Get more clicks on your web ads

http://www.flickr.com/photos/swanksalot/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

I want more clicks on my ads and I want them NOW!!!

What else can you do to get more clicks on your ads? Well I suppose you could go out and wear a sandwich board that says something like, "Click the ads on Ben Zoltak's articles on HubPages please" insert your name in place of mine unless you're looking to do me a favor. Of course this approach may not be for you.

Instead, research, research, research. Go online or down to the library and pick up a magazine, periodical or newspaper. Yes, they still make newspapers. Find out what is happening in your neck of the woods. You are more likely to get clicks on your local ads if you write about something local! Conversely, peruse the ads in magazines or online blogs to see what the latest marketing campaigns are all about. Remember our trip to the mall above? Where do you think my notions about Chanel Sublimage regenerating fluid came from? Or Perry Ellis suits? Or Oilily clothes for kids? These are all products gleaned from marketing campaigns out in the real world. Essentially we as writers are the free-est of free lancers in that we can tango with our words any which way we please with the crescendo of our performance leading people's eyes to the web ads on our blogs and hubs.

No one wants to go to read about something and just find a bunch of arrows pointing to the ads surrounding a little bit of text right? Or do they? Maybe not so much here at HubPages.Com but you may be surprised at how many published articles are swarming with internet ads, with just a tad bit of content thrown in! If you haven't read about backlinking you can find tons and tons of articles about it here on HubPages ad nauseum. For that matter, you can find even more ways to get people to click on your web ads on HubPages too. But don't forget to mainly dig from around you. Listen to the people in your life. What are they buying? What are they interested in? This is the sort of information that is important to advertisers for their marketing ads. It is the kind of value you bring to the table that they can't get anywhere else.

Here are a few other articles by Ben Zoltak that may help you to get more clicks on your web ads:

Thanks lrc!!! I am roundly flattered. You've come to the write place, wait scratch that pun, pretend I never wrote it. Hubpages is a great place for writers with a lot of helpers out there. I have many irons in the fire currently and have been on a shameful hiatus, but plan on getting back to writing much more soon. I wish you well!

Ben

Linda Crist 5 years agofrom Central Virginia

Wonderful hub and advice for the beginner (like me) trying to find the pathway to make a little money doing what we love. Thanks for sharing. You're an awesome writer. Voted up!

Thanks for your comment nikashi and your insight into the blogging world. I have received lots of solid observations about blog and website building, interesting how you have that much difference between your projects!

Ben

nikashi_designs 5 years ago

Really entertaining article and you are right, it takes work and a lot of time to build up. One of my blogs that a spend 1 hour per day typing up some new articles is making a nice bit of monthly revenue. The other ones that I spend 1 -2 hours a month make pennies a month. Take care and thank you.

No sweat HikeGuy, I know what you mean about ads above the fold but I figure, if people enjoy your writing they'll get past what they don't like in the ads. I believe HubPages does it well enough too, they don't completely slather ads on every square inch.

Ben

Bryce 5 years agofrom Northern California Coast

Thanks for your entertaining take on this. I enjoy your writing style. I've been wondering about above-the-fold ads -- I thought that might be a turn-off for the reader.

Glad I could be of help, and well put...on looking from the outside in.

Best

Ben

shin_rocka04 5 years agofrom Maryland

I haven't really been on the hub tip as of late, but it's always good to come back to posts like this. It definitely gave me a new perspective to look from the outside in instead of the inside out. Great post.

Thanks Chaz, I know what you mean. My "clicks" have increased slightly, especially with the new Hubpages ad program. I'm so glad they thought of us and kept the writers in the loop! I'm nearing $20/month which is a big deal for me. When (if) I hit a hundred bucks I'll be ecstatic!

Mozel tav

Ben

Charles 6 years ago

I like your style of writing. Funny and to the point. As for clicks, well I'm still dreaming about them.

Thanks for the advice and link SemanticAd, I get what you mean about the Google keyword tool, I rarely use it anymore...Cheers!

Ben

SemanticAd 6 years agofrom Austin, TX

Great hub and advice, Ben. But you should take the Google Keyword Tool data with a grain of salt. Some of the predicted keyword search volumes are clearly wrong, as are the estimated CPC values. 3rd party keyword tools like Keyword Discovery or WordTracker are more credible.

Normally I don't advocate outside blogs aditya, but it looks like you have put a lot of work into yours, so I will keep it! I enjoy that you spread the message of a positive spiritual journey. Namaste.

Ben

aditya hiran 6 years ago

I write about life as a spiritual journey and include discussions, books and the importance of meditation as well. So make time to take a look at me blog and be a part of my network... This offer if for friendship... Hope to see u as a friend, bye

Thanks LWMama! I haven't hit the magic bullet yet either, though more and more I wonder if having my own blog or website would help? I'm not here to make a ton, but I do wish I'd make a bit more...would justify more of this writing to my wife anyway!

Cheers!

Ben

loseweightmama 6 years agofrom Maine

Great hub, I've been experiment with ad placement and haven't hit the magic bullet yet. I know I have a long way to go since I only have 4 hubs. Good thing I'm not here for the money ;)

Thanks chinemeremz, I think about a dedeicated blog all the time, maybe 3 ???? Haha.

I agree about the turtle/tortoise thing, I should get my reptiel butt moving. Seriously though, thanks or noticing. Here's to ears and elbows!!!

Ben

chinemeremz 6 years ago

Hi ben, thanks for the fan mail, but I'm still waiting for my champagne though. Still looking forward to seeing your own personal blog, maybe you'll blog on the "Tortoise" as your niche area, cos you have a thing for the tortoise lol, and I bet you'll get even more clicks to contextual ads displayed side by side your content, keep up the good work Ben and more power to your elbow...

Thanks for pointing the way to digg.com I'll try and check it out. Been drinking some chardonnay and then some Sav blanc now so cant say I'll remember but maybe, maybe, also man! Thanks for noticing my 100!!! Haha. Pretty cool pretty fun. Weird feeling if you've been doing this awhile.

Wish I could make some more Benjamins, maybe my own website soon, maybe maybe

Ben OUttttttttttt

chinemeremz 6 years ago

Hi ben, your sense of humor is unparalled and I think this is what drives us like honey bees to your wonderful hubs. I'll be logging in to digg.com and I'll get some of your best hubs dugged so as to spread the word. Thanks Ben cos hitting the coveted 100 hub score is a feat worth celebrating. So hope u pop the champagne and dont forget to fill my glass. Cheers!

Thanks J. McCoy I agree with you wholeheartedly. It seems like if you stick with it, you will find rewards here eventually, as in a slow stream that grows...I enjoyed your image suggestion!

N'Strovia!

Ben

J. McCoy 6 years agofrom CA (originally)

It's only been recently that I've really cared about making money on here. But, for those that do, this could be required reading. Too many people worry about driving traffic. Doesn't matter if you get a billion visits a day if no one clicks. Sometimes you just want to place a photo above and below your ads with arrows pointing to them and text that says "Click here to continue reading." Might get me in trouble with HP, though. Anyways, really good article, Ben.

Thank you Dolores for the confirmation of this most basic of edits! I am going to reexamine more of my own because of your comment! Thank you, (visual looks are nice, clicks are pretty good too, hehe) Thanks again D!

Ben

Dolores Monet 7 years agofrom East Coast, United States

Ben - you are so right about the picture. I used to love to post an image on the top right of the initial text. It just looked nice. When I moved the picture down a smidge (just created a shorter initial text capsule), I saw my ad clicks and earnings go up.

quicksand, I agree to your approach. Occasionally I will pay some attention to keywords, but it's usually a minor part of a larger strategy of writing interesting articles! Thank you for your kind response!

Quicksand, Marisa gives good advice about shorter articles. However, I know some writers here have had some success with shorter articles too, but as a general rule, not as often. For me, when I've been a little idea-blocked, a shorter hub article is just the thing to prime the pump! Thanks for the great compliment and dialogue with Marisa, I wish you the best in your writing!

Marisa, thanks for the great observations. This is a tricky subject and certainly one you have to tip toe around carefully. It's a matter of respect for the advertisers. They mainly want "buzz" about their products, so if we can create writing that does that effectively, I believe that the folks at Adsense would applaud that effort instead of penalize it. It's when people get too pushy or misdirect their efforts away from creatively marketing their subject that things get to solicitous or self serving, or at least I hope anyway! Thanks again for the comments and great conversation with quicksand!

Sunforged! Always good to hear from you, I've been horrendously busy with bill paying things lately, difficult to get back to the keyboard. Thanks for the kind words my friend.

Ben

quicksand 7 years ago

Marisa, you're Wright! .... I mean you are right! ... The thing is ... I was as serious about equating cutting the text in half with writing shorter articles as I was with using sandwitch boards!

At least I found another way of getting noticed on HubPages! :)

Marisa Wright 7 years agofrom Sydney

Quicksand, cutting text in half isn't the same as writing shorter articles - short Hubs don't do as well. Cutting text into several capsules just gives you more places to put ads on a long Hub.

quicksand 7 years ago

You've actually given me a new idea. Cutting text into half is pretty much the same as writing shorter articles. right? I shall try this one out too.

I did try your sandwich board method but I did not receive a single extra click! Wonder why ... probably because I forgot to replace your name with mine ... :)

Marisa Wright 7 years agofrom Sydney

Ben, it was Lissie who first gave me the tip about not putting a photo first, and splitting your text up into capsules. You might want to take a look at your text though - I suspect you'll eventually get a nasty letter from Adsense regarding your repeated reference to clicks and ads! Lissie had to remove her article on the subject from HubPages for that very reason!

sunforged 7 years agofrom Sunforged.com

Not sure why I never saw this before! Well explained, im about to pass it on to many!

Thank you kindly sir, I am flattered and appreciative. Looking closely at your profile pick Peter, I hope that is a Long Island Ice Tea or some other such, it pairs well with the image of you in a tropical land enjoying tasty cocktails. Thanks for reading.

Peter Dickinson 7 years agofrom South East Asia

I like your writing style 'learn and laugh'. The mark of a good teacher.

Hey Janny! Thanks for stopping by. Guess who does click on google ads once in awhile? Yours truly! As a matter of fact, I just clicked on a fellow writer's a little while ago and found a landscaping company hiring and I applied! I know what you're thinking, why click on commercials? I only read what I enjoy here on Hubpages, and google ads are intelligent in that they reflect what I'm reading, where I live and so on. Try it, it's pretty cool. You find out about local businesses, services and products that you would have never known about. Believe me, I'm the last guy on the planet into commercials, but I've been pleasantly surprised a few times by the unique items out here in cyberspace.

JannyC 7 years ago

I still wonder what kind of people click on those google sense ads cause I never do. Ah well

Thanks Pamela, lots of people here tell me it takes time. But as I've been reminded by some other writers here lately (do you read Sunforged's stuff?) he reminded me that backlinking is important. Some will argue that it's not as important as quality writing, but it seems to me it's a bit of both!

Pamela Oglesby 7 years agofrom United States

Ben, Good hub. I use Google ad words tool but still have trouble getting people to click on the ads. I appreciate the advice in your hub.

Well Dolores you got my attention, I'm heading over to your hubs post haste and see what you got goin' on!!! Glad to hear the money's on the way up. Some people tell me I'm doing well, others' sound like they're blowing me away, hopefully more time is the answer!

Dolores Monet 7 years agofrom East Coast, United States

Great suggestions, Ben. I've been here at HP for some time and have lately been quite pleased with the money. It's not great, but, gee, if I actually would pay attention to some of this helpful advice I'd be really happy!

Thanks mynameis! Funny thing, sometimes it puts ads there sometimes it does not. I noticed a few of the other writers here will insert something called a "divider" or something where it's a few small images/icons repeated inbetween the text and then I think you are more likely to get Google ads placed there. Good luck!

mynameisnotpaul 7 years agofrom Kentuckeh'

Great advice! I like the 'cutting the text in half' idea. Gonna try that out, thanks =D

Thanks Big Bill I can't believe between dodging bullets and hopping over IED's you can find time to check out some of my writing. I'm really honored. I guess for me, I'm hoping maybe you guys can turn that place into the next Japan or Philippines, not the next Korea or Laos. Once your ass gets outta there and you get back to the States, send me an email, I have to send you and your family some of my homemade pickled eggs as thanks. Keep the Great Spirit close by my friend.

William Cobb 7 years agofrom Clarksville, TN

As always... Witty... An enjoyed read. I have been meaning to get more articles and hubs up as well as update my website and blogs but I have been so busy trying to help Iraq become a bit of a democracy; Something I think will take the imminent Civial War that will happen when we leave to happen. Anyway... Great hub... Don't worry... I'll wear the sign around my neck saying, "Click Ben Zoltak's Google Ads." Take care buddy.

akirchner: thanks for seeing my sense of humor! Sometimes I wonder if I go too far but how's a person supposed to know unless they try right? Thank you for the bookmark that makes me feel great. I know what you mean about wading through the mud, there is a lot out there.

Audrey Kirchner 7 years agofrom Central Oregon

Great writing and like the scarecrow said 'if only I had a brain' - all this stuff seems like I'm wading through mud but bookmarking this and going to re-read until it gets in there - or may start sleeping with it under my pillow! Love your humor as that is what makes the world go round!

Thanks fiksy! Hey, weren't you the one who originally told me about constant-content.com? I wrote a hub about them recently, I'll put the link below. It's harder and harder to find time to write but I've been giving it a go.Thanks for the comment!

Arthur: Ha, many a day I've pondered the dilemma of the hot Indian Bollywood actor but alas, I have resisted the temptation. On the Forum more successful writers than I claim that those niches (hot Indian girls ) are actually difficult to maintain as I'm sure they are a drop of diluted porn in an ocean of concentrated debauchery! Haha, thanks for checking out my latest always good to "see" you on the internet my friend!

TattoGuy: Been meaning to check out your "Foot Tattoos" hub I saw the other day. Not a foot guy myself, but I know Ralwus is and I know I'm in for a laugh if he left a comment. Thanks for the compliment hombre.

Suziecat: Thanks for the compliment, I shoot for humor and sometimes a bird falls out of the tree...

suziecat7 7 years agofrom Asheville, NC

What you write is so true and with a wonderful twist of humor. Good stuff.

TattoGuy 7 years ago

Someone mention hot indian girls, where are they ? Nice hub Ben, I likes it !

Arthur Windermere 7 years ago

And all this time I thought the way to get more clicks was to only make hubs called "Pictures of Hot Indian Girls."

Great article, Ben. Very witty. It might be helpful advice to me, but I think I'm hopeless. In seven months on hubpages, my google adsense has generated a whopping $3.94. I can buy a whole paper bag full of Bazooka Joe gum with that.